Helmet



Pat nted Dee. 20,1938

. Claims.

' 1'I'he commonly used helmets are constructed so -that they cover also the ears of the, wearer. These known helmets damp the sounds to such an extent that'the wearer is often unable to hear 7 clearly the approach of a vehicle overtaking and even hooter signals, especially when'heils i riding a motor cycle or driving inan op n car flwhen thesound of wind causedjby travelling is {often veryloud The result is,1that the wearer 7 uncertainin the steering of his vehicle. v

It'hasalready been proposed to provide a head 1 not the known helmets does not feelslafe, especialnd' therefore I ly on roads with heavyltraflic,

Q v i gear withflexible flaps covering apertures oppoe v enter, the apertures.

J drawback," that theexternal ears get chilled by the direct contactwith the shields, and aresubjected" to chafing by friction against the inner 35 site the weareris ears. Suchflapsare rolled] up t'ures. U 1 this device the.. apertures are either protecte 'againstthe and the wearer cannot they are exposed and the wind can freely ,Ithasalso been proposedin ear protectors provideshield members which are "held in open positionby the wearers external ears projecting I from ape'rt'ures'in the'protectors. I This vhasth'at side ofithe' shields. t. I Theehelmet according to' the invention constitutes an-improvement over the known constructions .in that stiff wind screen walls constructed.

as sound reflecting surfaces are hingedly conlnected' to the helmet one in front of each ear. aperture with the result that a maximum audibility is obtained especially as regards [sound 5' waves cominglfrom behind'the wearer. Means such as flexible straps are provided for-rigidly 45' away from' the wearers ears,

holdinglthe walls either in open position and or in. folded or closed position, as desired. 7

; Thefundamental idea of the following experi yments has been utilized:When a passenger ridto ing on a motor cycle places both hands in front 1 f hisears in half shell-shape open towards the -.-,rea;r, the disturbing wind noise on the ear apertures ceases and the sound of vehicles approaching from the rear or coming round a corner can be' heard much earlier and more distinctly;

'iThisinvention' relates to improved con-'v I istrllction, of 'helmets espeelally for motor vehicle drivers, and enables the wearer to clearly hear;

soundson the road andin the neighbourhood.

expose the apertureswhen the wearer desires tohear readily and they areextended to overlie the apertures to prevent wind enteringthe aper Gustavlllguth, Langwaltersdorf, .Germany Applicationjuly 7, 19se serial o. 89,354 5 In Germany August 8,' 1935 The. improvement in the audibility when thus holding the hands, is due to two reasons, firstly to the displacement and removal of the headwind from the ear apertures'and secondly to the reflection action of the palmsof the hands forming sound chambers which catch the sound waves coming from the rear and amplifyand reflect them on to theear in the direction which corresponds to the natural position of the. ear shell, Owing to their ,wlnd deflecting property, the protecting wall'srdo not even affect the audibility for sounds coming from in front when travelling,

sothat 'a vehicle approaching from in front canunder certain circumstances be heard sooner. and more distinctly. 1

I The known experiments for providing a drivers helmet with devices which do not ailect the sense of hearing solve the problem of protecting the ear against the mechanical and thermic irritations caused by direct exposure'to the head wind and thereby maintainfaudibility when the vehicle is stationary. When for this purpose ear flaps or the like projecting from the helmet are employed, these are either too, small or aremade of too yieldable or' too permeable material to be suitable under the stress of the strong head wind or .to obtain the above described acoustic effect and therebyan improvement in the sense of hearing.

Inthe case of too small protecting devices the headwind brushes 'past the hearing aperture in much too close proximity thereto so that an appreciable relief. from the head wind noise is not obtained, and moreover, too small protecting devices do notofi'er a catching or refractory resistance to the sound waves coming from the rear, sojthat'the greater part of the sound waves coming from the rear'must brush past the ear Without being caught. In the case of insufficiently rigid protecting devices, they collapse or flatten under' strong head wind and are pressed against the ears so that they have the same disadvantages as regards the head wind and sound waves coming from the rear.

As compared with all these constructions, the

invention according to the experiment above mentioned presents the great advantage in the production of a helmet which deflects the head gwind far around and over the ears somewhat like a snow plougltn completely shelters the ears and thus excludes to a maximum extent the superim- 7 position of sound Waves caused by the head wind I onctheear apertures, and which also catch the v sound waves emanating from the rear and even amplify and reflect them on tothe ear. This problem is solved according to the invention by the arrangement of large rigid or stifiened protecting walls or protecting chambers open at the rear, which are arranged in front of the apertures situated in the range of the ears and which, as regards position and material, are capable of offering suflicient resistance to the stresses of the head wind or are held in position by suitable means. In dimensioning these ear protecting arrangements, the acoustic laws must be taken into consideration as far as the practical manipulations will allow, namely that the disturbance caused by the head wind is reduced in: a ratio of the square to the distance of the head wind from the ear aperture.

As the protecting walls effectively protect the ear shells at the front from mechanical and which in time is found to be very soothing and agreeable, i. e. owing to-the-bafiles or protecting walls arranged in front of the ears the sound waves coming from the rear are reflected in the direction of the natural position of the ear shells so that these can secure their sound energies from thedirection which corresponds to the natural position. Moreover, the sound receiving and amplifying effect of the whole ear shell is utilized for hearing and not only the hearing aperture as hitherto usual with the. known helmets.

The protecting. walls are hingedly connected to the helmet so that they can be employed for closing the ear apertures in the helmet and held in open position by straps or other means.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying. drawing, in which:-

Fig. 1 shows the helmet, in front elevation in position for use. Y

' Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of Fig. 1.

s Fig. 4 shows on a larger scale a perspective View of the protecting wall arrangement. The protecting walls or flaps a are arranged on the head in front of the ears and at anan'gle of about'fiO" relative to the head. I

Between the upper, and lower edges of the walls a and the helmet c or the like intermediate parts e' of pliable or foldable material, such as leather, are provided which border the space between the protecting walls and the ears at the top and bottom and thus prevent the penetration of rain, gusts of wind and the like into this space. The protecting walls a are held in open position by means of straps f. Press buttons g mlay be provided. on the walls or on the helmet'for fixing these straps. A button It is located to the rear of each flap a. When it, is desired to close the apertures y, the upper ends of the straps f are detached from the press buttons g, the walls a are folded against the sides of the helmet, and the upper end of each strap is connected to the corresponding button 10. The walls may also be heldin the lateral position by fixable hinges, steel band springs or the like. The protecting walls a have a stiff or stiffened shape which is attained for example by the provision of a frame of metal, celluloid or other suitable material.

The hinged fixation of the protecting walls on the helmet can be carried out in any desired manner.

The protecting walls a may be made of leather or other material for example arranged in layers connected by stitching h or other suitable means.

Moreover, they may be of any suitable shape which causes the protecting walls, when in closed position, to bear tightly against the ears. By providing elastic insertions only at the edge any disagreeable pressure can be avoided. The protecting chambers open at the rear may be formed so that they extend over the ears in half-shell orsimilar shape. I

It is evident that band frames, head straps or other suitable means, including caps and other head wear, can serve as supports for the protecting wall.

Holes or slots may also be provided in the protecting walls for the goggle straps, or the protecting walls may be made of such shape or. so arranged that thegoggle straps canlie above the upper edge of the walls.

In Fig. 3 "the deflection of the air flow is indicated by the lines at.

I claim:

1. A helmet especially for motor vehicle drivers, 4

comprising in combination a helmet shapedbody having apertures at the ear portions, stiff wind screen walls constructed as sound reflecting surfaces hingedly connected to said helmet one in front of each of said apertures, and means for rigidly holding said walls either in open projecting position spaced away from the external ears of the wearer, each wall forming with said helmet an angle open towards the rear, or folded in closed position.

2. A helmet as specified in claim 1, in which the apertures in the helmet are suflici'ently large to allow the passage of the whole external ears.

3. A helmet as specified in claim. 1 in which the means for holding the walls in open and closed position are detachable, flexible straps at tached to the front sides of the walls.

GUSTAV ILLGUI'H. 

